Maine people can assist by reporting storm and flood damage by dialing 2–1–1
Governor Janet Mills announced today that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has approved a request from the Maine Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) to initiate the process of conducting a Preliminary Damage Assessment of last week’s storm, the first formal step toward requesting a Major Disaster Declaration from the Federal government.
MEMA has begun working with local partners to estimate the cost of damage caused by last week’s storm. At the direction of Governor Mills, MEMA last Friday requested that FEMA dispatch Federal officials to Maine as soon as possible to begin the process of conducting the Federal Preliminary Damage Assessment, in which FEMA reviews and validates damage assessments gathered by local officials.
FEMA approved MEMA’s request today, and the two agencies are working together to schedule the assessments. If from these assessments FEMA agrees that the costs associated with the storm are beyond the capabilities of the State to address, the Governor will formally request a Major Disaster Declaration from the President.
Governor Mills and MEMA Director Pete Rogers continue to encourage Maine people impacted by the storm to report their property damage by dialing 2–1–1. Information provided will help the State of Maine estimate the full impact of the storm and request the maximum amount of Federal aid available. Reporting damage is not an application for assistance, and Maine people are still encouraged to file claims with homeowners or auto insurance.
“We welcome this quick approval from FEMA and look forward to working with them to validate damage from the storm so that we can request a Major Disaster Declaration from the President as soon as possible,” said Governor Janet Mills. “We continue to encourage anyone who experienced property damage to report it by dialing 2–1–1. Sharing your information will help the State of Maine unlock Federal disaster funds to support Maine people and communities as we recover and rebuild.”
“We are grateful to FEMA for their strong partnership,” said MEMA Director Pete Rogers. “Validating damage is a critical step in the process of unlocking Federal funding to help Maine communities, so we continue ask the public to report storm and flood damage by calling 2–1–1.”
In the aftermath of the storm, MEMA processed several resource requests to support local warming centers and shelters, transportation of supplies, generator transport, coordination with utilities in high-risk infrastructure restorations and public alerting in flooded areas. MEMA continues to work closely with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to identify and mitigate hazardous material concentrations as water levels recede and damage becomes evident.
Last week, Governor Mills declared a State of Civil Emergency for most Maine counties to mobilize all State of Maine resources to assist and support response and recovery efforts and position the State to seek Federal disaster support in the coming weeks.
Last week, Governor Mills joined State and County Emergency Management officials to survey flooding along the Kennebec River in Augusta, and she received a briefing on ongoing storm response and recovery efforts from MEMA Director Peter Rogers and Commissioner of Transportation Bruce Van Note at MEMA’s Emergency Operations Center. The Governor also visited Skowhegan to survey damage caused by flooding from the Kennebec River and met with local and county emergency management officials to receive an update on local response and recovery efforts.